


Regained

by captainkaltar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (sort of), Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Memories, Pining, Recovered Memories, and a little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-17 06:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13653549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainkaltar/pseuds/captainkaltar
Summary: Faced with a resurgence of old memories, Haggar reexamines her relationship with her emperor.Part of the 2018 Galrentines Exchange, a gift for @Talicor





	Regained

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Talicor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talicor/gifts).



His room was the only place where she felt like she truly belonged. It was the only spot on the imperial flagship where she wasn’t greeted by grovelling, frightened soldiers at every turn, where even the lower-ranking Druids knew better than to go without asking for her permission, where the chairs and tables could accommodate her slighter, smaller body. Her emperor had no use for the extra furniture, being confined to his bed, but she’d made sure that it stayed, since she spent so much time in here lately. 

 

He was very still tonight, the steady pulse on the monitor for his artificial heart the only obvious sign that he was still living. His eyes stayed open, pupil-less and glassy, staring into space.The pale ribbons of Quintessence tubing that snaked up to the ceiling cast shadows over his angular form, making him look even more skeletal than usual. And yet, in her eyes, he was still as wonderful, as beautiful as he’d been before. 

 

“Sire, let me stay with you for the night? I- I need to keep an eye on your Quintessence levels, make sure you’re getting enough.” His eyes narrowed at that, thinking it over, but when he edged off to one side of the bed and patted the now-empty space beside him, his message was clear. She sat next to him, hoping her hood would hide the fact that she couldn’t keep her eyes off his face. 

 

“Lie down, Haggar.” His voice was quieter than his usual ominous commands, a volume he reserved for when he was alone with her. She followed his orders at once, facing his armour-bound chest as she tucked herself up in her robes. This had become something of a habit of theirs, lying side by side through the night, never properly sleeping. Neither of them required it, they hadn’t for centuries. 

 

_This is where I belong_. She reached up to cup his cheek, clawed fingernails raking over his scaly skin. _At his side, until the end of days._ Her thumb lightly brushed his cheekbone, feeling how prominently his bones jutted from his face, how hollow his frame had become, filled only by Quintessence and artificial body parts, metal and lab-grown tissues where there once were bones and guts. If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost remember stroking his cheek just like this back when they were young, before the Druids, before the Empire, before he relied on his armour and his Quintessence injections for survival. Did he remember what it was like, to move around without a protective shell of armour, to eat real food instead of sustaining himself with energy exposure alone? Did he remember what her fingers had felt like, supple and smooth and with short nails instead of the talons she sported now? 

 

She suppressed a sigh as she studied his face, the Quintessence tubes starting to pulsate the way they did every varga, sending waves of light and shadow across her emperor’s face. Quiznak, did he remember what _kissing_ her felt like? How she’d had to explain how her Altean people expressed love, while learning how his Galra went about it? She resisted the urge to reach up and nuzzle his cheek, the way Galra lovers did. It had been so long since they’d done such a thing, there was no telling exactly how he’d react. 

 

She nearly jumped as his arm lifted with a metallic creaking sound, claws catching on her cloak as his hand curved around her back, pulling her in close beside him. Had he read her thoughts? Were his old memories returning in much the same way as hers, did he remember what she had once meant to him? 

 

She said nothing, nestling against his armoured side, the metal cool and slightly static against her cheek. She closed her eyes, feeling the steady, mechanical beating of his heart thrumming into here core, his Quintessence melding with hers. She let out a breath, soft, peaceful memories drifting in and out of her mind as she fell into a shallow sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (belated) Valentine's Day, Tali! You wanted some established fluff between these two adorable Quintessence Zombies, so I did my best to deliver. 
> 
> I don't own Voltron (although it would be cool if I did, every girl needs a gigantic mecha in her life), I'm just in this for fun and for feels. 
> 
> Writing this made me realize I should write more Zargar fics...


End file.
